2 - Ec

e air in Ridgepo

d radio while his mind replayed the night over and over. The drones, the glowing panel, the v

d with a coded m

NSET. SA

same thing: Echo Cradle wasn't jus

wait

forest's edge. The woods, once familiar

someone-or something-watching. Lena walked up front, fists clenched, jaw tight. Noah was q

d the hatch, it

eeling beside it. "No sign

omething-left it o

e silence more oppressive this time. The hum of low ene

ing the flickering wall panels and disabled

d spot on the ground.

ke they cleaned up aft

till operational," Jet

hter. The main console was lit, its screens pulsing with a dee

ward, hesitated,

the screens flickered and rearranged in

zes you," A

across the c

ÁRI - ACCESS L

e?" Noah

ared-and the floor be

revealing a hidden corridor previously masked by

invited in,

ke it a good ide

walked

Lights activated just ahead of their steps, illuminating stee

"Encrypted interface," he muttered. "This is

reak it?"

ed. "Eve

a central pedestal. As she stepped closer, the display flared to life, showing images-blurred, flickering scenes: four children la

word appeared:

called out, vo

ed again, showing schematics-DNA s

ADLE - GENETIC E

screen. "This was a

," Noah

ascaded past

: LENA

: NOAH

3: AY

4: JE

e, the weight of it

id. "This can

"But... the dreams. I keep seeing th

"They did something to us. Our pow

een working on hiss

l showing stone and roots above. In the center, a crystalline structure floated mida

reathed. "This is

gentle pulses of light toward each of them. As i

bjects active. Initial synchron

artificial. It had resonance, as if

nt from us?" Le

of sile

reme

e drone

ey swarmed from vents and shado

a corridor junction, triggering a magneti

is time deliberately-his shield

en pipe and swung w

, sound warped around her-distorting the air,

kly as it beg

-air. Powered down.

pulsed again

e said. "Memory locks... unstable. I

e chamber l

cture, something sti

more than just our m

e isn't just a lab. It's a fuse

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